MILAN — British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood said this week that she has no plans to
further expand in China and defended the high prices of her designs as a way to encourage customers
to buy fewer clothes.

Westwood, who started selling clothes in the swinging ’60s in London and has shops in Britain
and 15 other countries, said she is assessing her company and its goals.

“I want to backtrack and control it,” she said before showing her men’s spring/summer 2014
collection in Milan.

Westwood, an environmental activist, said she is focusing on her supply chain, starting with the
material used to make the protest T-shirts featured at her shows.

“We do a lot of T-shirts, and at least I’ve managed to get the jersey that we use for the
T-shirts — which comes from Peru mostly,” she said. “It’s organic, and it’s not harmful.”

For the Milan show, staff members and some models wore T-shirts supporting U.S. Army Pfc.
Bradley Manning, who is accused of releasing classified files, videos and other data to the
WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website.

The show — inspired by a romantic idea of India — featured harem-style trousers, kaftans and
chunky necklaces along with military berets.

Westwood, dressed in a gray sequined dress she had worn before, said she hoped other fashion
icons would also re-wear their clothes.

But she isn’t worried about people’s changing habits squeezing her profits.

“If people like my clothes, it’s good if they don’t buy things for six months; then they’ll be
able to afford them,” she said.

Westwood defended the steep cost of her designs, including $1,200 for a man’s suit, saying: “I
think it’s ecologically friendly that the clothes should be expensive.”